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Monday, 1 October 2012

Melt Boxed Chocolates

I'd been wanting to try some of Melt's chocolates for ages; but due to the fact that I live up North and that postage costs can sometimes be quite high I was often deterred from buying some, every time I went down to London I never seemed to get round to popping into their shop. As my birthday came around last month however you can imagine how delighted I was when I received a box of their chocolates.

Melt Chocolates was founded in 2006 by Louise Nason and is based in Notting Hill London; they produce a wide range of innovative bars and filled chocolates, fresh truffles and ganaches in a variety of flavours to tempt the taste buds!On receiving my box of chocolates there was no menu contained inside so I had to do a bit of informative guess work to decipher what flavours each of the chocolates were but it's safe to say that they were all delicious! My box contained : a peanut butter & raspberry jam bonbon, a wild Bolivian chocolate truffle, a sea salted caramel, 2 white chocolate & raspberry mint bonbons, a banana, passionfruit & coconut bonbon and finally a few heart chocolate ganaches that I presume were thrown in free of charge as I couldn't see them being an option to choose on the website.I'd dreamed about trying the Peanut Butter & Raspberry Jam bonbon for what seemed like an eternity, I pretty much love all things peanut butter so I couldn't wait to try one of these, naturally it was the first one I went for. A peanut style paste mixed with a sweet yet tangy raspberry jam created an absolutely wonderful taste contrast between the salty/savoury of the peanut & the sweetness of the jam and milk chocolate covering. My only complaint is that the peanut paste could have maybe been slightly smoother, I found it ever so "gritty".

Moving on I decided to sample the Salted Caramel, which was everything a salted caramel should be, a thin shell gave way to a delightfully smooth and oozing caramel which had wonderful sweet burnt sugar notes before lending a wonderful salty tang that ended the experience perfectly.The White Chocolate & Raspberry Mint Bonbon was another flavour that had intrigued me for a while; this seemed to a raspberry ganache centre covered in white chocolate complete with crunchy crystallised mint pieces in the shell. Although this wasn't my favourite of the box it was still wonderfully pleasant, the contrast was splendid and the smooth texture of the raspberry ganache melted excellently on the tongue.

The Banana, Passionfruit & Coconut Bonbon provided another opportunity to sample Melt's caramels, this time the chocolate shell was rolled in coconut to give an exotic feel whilst the inside I presume was comprised of a banana/passionfruit caramel - to be honest I didn't really get a whole lot of banana in this chocolate and the tangy flavours of the passionfruit dominated this chocolate whilst the coconut enrobing provided an almost savoury earthy element to the chocolate.

My final two experiences consisted of the Wild Bolivian Chocolate Truffle and the complementary Chocolate Heart Ganaches; for me both of these proved exactly what a rich deep flavourful chocolate should be, the gorgeous melt in the mouth textures provided a luxurious appeal whilst the flavours that erupted as the centres melted were superb; rich in deep cocoa notes with the slight acidity of fruits.

Overall I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this box of Melt chocolates, they made a wonderful birthday surprise and if I lived in London I'm sure I would be making regular visits to their shop!

Taste - 8.3/10 - A wonderful array of various unusual yet delicious chocolates.Texture - 8.9/10 - Smooth, sumptuous, rich and luxurious. Appearance - 6.3/10 - I must admit I was slightly disappointed how these chocolates looked, I know they were sent through the post but I think it would have been good if a menu had been included.Price - 6.6/10 - These aren't cheap chocolates, priced at £1.50 a chocolate plus your postage on top these have to be reserved for an extra special treat/occasion. Having said that you do feel like you're getting a high quality product.Overall - 7.5/10 - Delightful chocolates but probably only something for a special occasion.__________________________________________________________________________WHO FOR?Anyone who appreciates finer chocolates.

WHERE TO BUY?You can pick these up from Melt's store in Notting Hill or you can order on their website here.